Latest News

By Clive Slovin In the coming months and years, it’s likely that alternative investments will begin to play a more prominent role in client portfolios. Though interest rates are on the rise, they remain relatively low. So, even as traditional fixed-income vehicles may become a bit more attractive going forward, investors will likely still…

SFA Advsior, Lewis Walker, shared advice on uncovering your strongest skills and using that knowledge to create valuable goals in a Forbes article entitled “What The Big Bang Theory can Teach us about Career Planning”. To read the full article click here.

SFA Advisor, Lewis Walker, authored the cover story for the December, 2018, issue of Journal of Financial Planning entitled “Future Trends: Generational Realities and the Growth of Our Profession.” Click here to read the full article.

In recent years, retail alternative investment products, along with the companies that package them, have come under siege from regulators, investors, the press and even some advisers. None of this is a secret, and, quite frankly, some of the criticism has been well-deserved, as we’ve seen offerings that were poorly designed, not well-vetted or improperly…

APRIL 19, 2018 • JADAH RILEY Strategic Blueprint LLC, an Atlanta-based registered investment advisor, announced it has joined SFA Partners’ family of financial services companies. SFA Partners is a master brand that encompasses the enterprises that are wholly owned by SFA Holdings, which comprises The Strategic Financial Alliance, an Atlanta-based independent broker-dealer significantly owned by the independent…

By: Clive Slovin It was another banner year for the equities markets in 2017, with anyone who had broad exposure to stocks likely very happy as we kick off a new year. While it’s always challenging to predict the future, the current landscape suggests that 2018 could once again be very favorable. The story for…

This year, we worked together as an SFA community to focus on growth, sharing, and giving back. This year’s holiday card highlights some of the successes we’ve had in these areas. Thank you for your partnership. We look forward to an even stronger relationship in 2018.

The Strategic Financial Alliance (SFA) has created three senior management positions to oversee product strategy, technology and recruiting. “We are delighted to welcome these three talented and respected executives to serve in key operating roles in our expanded senior management team,” said Clive Slovin, president and CEO of SFA. Jean Merriman has joined SFA as…

In the independent broker-dealer and RIA space, the term “alternative investment” means exactly what it implies: It is an alternative to commonly held liquid investments traded on a public exchange. Alternatives can be inappropriate for those who cannot afford to lock up significant capital for a long period of time. Read more…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The headline startled: “Dow plummets…on a wave of panic selling; 22% drop exceeds worst day in 1929.” The date was Tuesday, October 20, 1987, and the front-page above-the-fold story in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune chronicled the carnage on Wall Street on what became known as Black Monday. My…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker Inflation does a number on your wealth. Time was that having $1 million meant you were rich. Lewis Walker, a financial planning and investment strategist at Capital Insight Group in Peachtree Corners, Ga., explains what you can do to combat a wealth shortfall: A report from Boston Consulting Group focused on the growing global wealth gap.…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® A survey from HomeServe USA cited by MarketWatch and New York Post, April 5, 2017, painted a grim financial picture for many Americans. About 19% of those surveyed had zero dollars set aside for emergencies; 31% had less than $500 available to cover unexpected expenses. Debt is one factor.…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® In his 2001 Chairman’s letter during the “tech wreck” market downturn, Warren Buffett observed, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” To extend the swimming analogy, if a business leader or company gets caught in a rip current of change, some will just…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The question asked by the client seemed simple enough. “How do you define ‘high net worth,’” he wondered? Net worth may be defined in subjective terms, as may be wealth. The Greek philosopher Epictetus proclaimed, “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” Financial services…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® In Congress, July 4, 1776, “the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” was published, dissolving the political bands that connected them to England and an oppressive king, stating in succinct language the reasons why. Google the document. Read it. It stirs the patriotic soul! “We hold these…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® In Congress, July 4, 1776, “the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” was published, dissolving the political bands that connected them to England and an oppressive king, stating in succinct language the reasons why. Google the document. Read it. It stirs the patriotic soul! “We hold these…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® At any “mix and mingle” gathering of business and professional folks, a common ice breaker question is, “What do you do?” Or perhaps, “Tell me about your company?” Sharing chicken wings and drinks with a young doctor and a woman who worked in the practice, when informed that I…

Which independent broker-dealers pay the most? InvestmentNews Research surveyed IBD firms to find out which had the highest average payout per rep. SFA is ranked number six out of the ten top IBD firms.

In InvestmentAdvisor’s 2017 Broker-Dealer Reference Guide the Strategic Financial Alliance placed fifth among the Top Ten Independent Broker Dealers by Average Annual Gross Production per Advisors. See more…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The future. Your future. Your family’s future. The future for those you love and care about. The future for those who depend on you. A dear friend and fellow financial planner, Richard (Dick) Wagner, JD, CFP, wrote about the future, among other things, in his 2016 book, Financial…

A number of years ago my wife and I considered remodeling our house after living there for two decades. Major changes were needed, but we loved the location and the associated memories. However, after going through a comprehensive design and planning process to see what could be done, it became obvious that any renovations wouldn’t…

A number of years ago my wife and I considered remodeling our house after living there for two decades. Major changes were needed, but we loved the location and the associated memories. However, after going through a comprehensive design and planning process to see what could be done, it became obvious that any renovations wouldn’t…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Outside of government agency guaranteed savings or insurance company guarantees, market volatility is a fact of life. Take the stock market. Volatility is normal and must be considered in framing your personal Investment Policy. Since we can only theorize the future but not predict the future, expecting and learning…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The stock market is not an escalator. Escalators are predictable, offering a smooth ride with the end point visible at the top. Of course, being mechanical, escalators can break down, malfunction, even cause serious injury. The stock market is not mechanical or precisely predictable, despite a constant quest to…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Money is but one tool in a larger “toolkit” provided by your Creator. When you are relaxed, often out in nature, your mind, a miracle of creation itself, may focus on the complexities of the universe and your place in the scheme of things. Money is part of…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Every year, the plethora of holiday and Christmas cards remind us of the passage of time. We love the family pictures of young men and women who not that long ago were babies. My daughter reminded me that her “baby boy” will turn 14 in 2017, and already he…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® ‘Tis the season for setting goals. New Year’s resolutions. To-do lists. For some, such urgings, whether from a spouse, parent, boss, or adviser, are a groaner! As a kid, my mom, teachers, and mentors would ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As a teenager,…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® In the political battles to come, we will hear about poverty versus wealth, who has it, who does not, and “what’s fair?” How should you view wealth per se? Professor Steven Pinker is a psychologist at Harvard. In a short but thought-provoking column in The Wall Street Journal, “The…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® What follows is not original and the author is unknown. Apparently the text was found in the possessions of famed Alabama football coach Paul Bear Bryant after he passed away. It’s a thought-provoking piece entitled “The Magic Bank Account.” Imagine that you won the following prize in a contest:…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Underpinning most goals, aspirations, and “bucket list” dreams, is the assumption of good health. Of the top eight retirement worries of surveyed workers age 50 or older, three were health related: Declining health that requires long-term care; lack of access to affordable and adequate healthcare; cognitive decline, dementia,…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Listening to music on internet radio post-Thanksgiving, “Auld Lang Syne” popped up, emphasizing how close the New Year is! At midnight on 12/31 as December fades to January, a year ends, a new year begins. What will you leave behind? What new undertaking will you commence? In business and…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® On October 3, 1789, President George Washington issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation. “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® What does chaos and tragedy tell us about personal planning? How do we deal with the philosophical questions posed? It’s an age old question: “Why does God permit the righteous to suffer and the wicked to flourish?” In writings dating from 605-597 B.C., the prophet Habakkuk complained, “How long, O…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The annual Mendel Lecture at Atlanta’s Marcus Jewish Community Center took place September 29, 2016. While this writer did not have the pleasure of attending, high points of his presentation were covered in a column entitled “Mendel: Diversify and Defend Yourself,” by Marcia Caller Jaffe, Atlanta Jewish Times, 10/14/16.…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The first Baby Boomers were born in 1946 as post-W.W. II America expanded with manifold opportunities. As the initial wave turned 30 in the 1970s, we saw bursts of entrepreneurialism as businesses were founded. Those born in 1946 turn 70 this year as they contemplate Required Minimum Distributions for…

By Clive Slovin Lately, there’s been increased focus on the rise of offices of supervisory jurisdiction or OSJs – organizations that were originally created to provide independent advisors added scale by helping to manage the growing number of compliance obligations our industry has faced in recent years. Over the years, however, the role of the…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® This column is of interest to anyone on Medicare, about to apply for Medicare as you approach your 65th birthday, or have a loved one on Medicare. Medicare Open Enrollment season is upon us, from October 15 to December 10, 2016. Understanding and action is called for! All persons…

Two independent financial advisory firms have joined the broker-dealer and registered investment advisor platform of The Strategic Financial Alliance, a privately owned independent broker-dealer and RIA in Atlanta, SFA announced Thursday. Carnegie Wealth Management of Exton, Pa., and Carlyle Wealth Management of Atlanta bring $350 million in client brokerage and fee-based advisory assets to SFA.…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Some years ago yours truly had the pleasure of speaking to a large audience of Japanese investment executives and financial advisors meeting in Yokohama, Japan. I had to submit the speech ahead of time to allow for simultaneous translation from English to Japanese. A form of “simultaneous translation” happens…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Before Al Gore invented the Internet, data was kept on paper, in notebooks and folders, and in file drawers. Now, increasingly, data is in digital form on a server or in the cloud. Remembering user names, passwords, and PIN numbers are the bane of the digital age. The old…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFR® You have done well through diligence and wise investing. You have achieved your goals for financial independence, or are on target to do so. An inheritance or sale of a business may have added to your net worth, or may do so in the future. Enter Abraham Maslow.…

Contributed by: Lewis J. Walker, CFP® A popular investment magazine offered a number of age related planning tips. In general the advice made sense, but some of it was deficient in its simplicities. While not naming the magazine to protect the well-meaning, some thoughts. One point was that peak earnings years occur somewhere around age…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The Republican and Democratic conventions are over. The combatants are confirmed. Get ready for an ugly fall. The campaigns may be interesting, but they won’t be pretty. How do politics impact the stock market? Theories, opinions, and forecasts based on history should be regarded as entertainment, not action…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® As reported in The Wall Street Journal, 7/2/16, on July 1, 2016, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note hit the “lowest level ever” at 1.385%. We underline the word ever to underscore the astounding fact that the yield on 10-year government paper has never been so…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Brexit, the British vote to exit the European Union (EU), rattled global stock markets on Friday, June 24. Volatility is likely to continue. What does that mean to you as an investor? Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing, stated, “The (stock) market is not a weighing machine, in…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® There are over 2000 references in the Holy Bible concerning money, possessions, riches, charity, the proper uses of wealth, and the conduct of business. The writers of the Old and New Testaments authored the original financial and life planning guide several thousand years before such concentrations emerged as a…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® We take risks every day, just driving to the store or to work. Risk and reward are part of the reality of life, with the possible exception of those who insist that “everyone gets a trophy.” In investing, you cannot avoid risk. Guaranteed bank deposits carry inflation risk. With inflation…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® If you were born in 1966, you are or will be age 50 this year. The T-shirt proclaimed, “If you haven’t grown up by age 50, you don’t have to.” Well, yes, you do, if you don’t want to be knocking on your kids’ doors begging for support in…

Contributed by Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Sometimes you read an editorial and ponder, “Yup, that’s how I feel, but she said it better.” That was my reaction to Peggy Noonan’s introspection in the weekend The Wall Street Journal, April 23-24, 2016, ”Declarations: That Moment When 2016 Hits You,” Ms. Noonan touched on the wave of…

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Docupace Technologies LLC, a premier digital compliance and cyber security company in the financial services industry, completed its planned repurchase of the majority interest in the company previously held by RCS Capital Corporation (NYSE: RCAP). On April 20th, Docupace announced an agreement with RCAP to repurchase their interest with plans to continue the…

By Clive Slovin From Investment News: While the Department of Labor’s newly unveiled fiduciary rule has dominated industry headlines in recent months, another fresh regulatory shift also has the potential to cause significant upheaval for countless advisers. Read more…

By Clive Slovin From Investment News: Broker-dealers in the independent space have often been owned by the shareholders of large, publicly traded companies, diversified financial product companies or private equity firms. Each approach has its own strengths, but if the experience of the independent advisors in the field means anything, all of the above ownership models…

Contributed by: Walker Capital Management Wealth is created by taking risk. That truism cannot be legislated away, although government will try to do just that. Wrapped in a blanket of “consumer protections,“ initiatives backed by the Obama administration will restrict investment options in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). On the surface, protecting citizens from “risky investments” has…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high of 18312.39 on 5/19/15. On Friday, January 15, 2016, the Dow closed at 15988.08, down 12.9% from the high. The broader S&P 500 Index closed at 1880.33, down 11.8% from the all-time peak at 2130.82 on S/21/15. We’ve endured a correction,…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® Ruminating on our country’s state of affairs and the political focus on income inequality, the gentleman said, “I think the American dream is dead.” What, exactly, is the American dream? The term was coined in 1931 by writer and historian James Truslow Adams in his book, Epic of America.The American…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® You have accumulated all manner of stuff over the years. If something happened to you tomorrow, would the person stepping in know where everything important is? Most likely, no. The youngest members of The Greatest Generation, born prior to 1946, turn age 71 in 2016. The Baby Boomer Generation that…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® As winter fades to spring, the travel bug bites…the open road calls! Travel dreams are high on most everyone’s wish list, especially when one ponders what money and time are for. As one who developed a sense of wonder and wanderlust at a young age, I offer a few travel…

By Clive Slovin From Investment News: In my travels to various industry gatherings in recent years, I have met with an increasing number of independent financial advisors — even some longtime veterans of the industry — plagued by the same problem. While they’ve built successful businesses and established many lasting relationships, their practices have hit…

— Advisor Cheri Knight Elected as Strategic Advisory Council Chair — ATLANTA, GA – December 14, 2015 – The Strategic Financial Alliance (SFA), a leading, privately owned independent broker-dealer and Registered Investment Advisor, today announced that three new members have joined its six-person Strategic Advisory Council (SAC), which assists the firm in developing and implementing…

By Lewis .J. Walker, CFP® December is about light. Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is observed this year from December 6 to the 14th. The celebration commemorates the victory of the ancient Israelites over the Syrian Greek army and the return of the menorah to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Testimony to God’s grace, one vial of…

By Lewis J. Walker, CFP® In his hit song, “1999,” Prince sang, “Yeah, they say two thousand zero zero, Party over, oops out of time, So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.” As we approached 2000, the last year of the second millennium, do you remember the spreading fear over Y2K? Dr. Ed Yardeni, the highly respected…

By LewisJ. Walker, CFP® In a recent column we cautioned against using the calendar as a predictor of stock market performance. We cited skepticism about market performance in September and October, two months with bad karma based on some notable past setbacks. But this year there was no “September massacre” and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) rose 8.3% in October.…

From investmentnews.com: Finding the right partnership is vital for business development and continuity. Here, SFA President and CEO, Clive Slovin, discusses the five things to consider when partnering with a small broker-dealer. Read more…

One of our very own Financial Advisors, James Gambaccini, the sole owner and managing partner of Acorn Financial Services in Reston, VA, notes the philosophical differences between baby boomers and the prior generation when it comes to mortgage payments and retirement. Read more…

From wealthmanagement.com: Finding the right fit is vital to not only survival in this industry, but also success. With the majority of independent broker-dealers existing on the smaller end of the spectrum, it is important to consider all aspects of a firm before committing yourself and your clients to any firm. Here, SFA President and…

Investment Advisor magazine has been the voice of the independents for over thirty years. Each year they produce a Broker-Dealer Reference Guide, which divides the top independent broker-dealers across the nation into categories based on annual revenue, number of representatives, and highest average production. The Strategic Financial Alliance is honored to be eleventh among the…

— National Gathering of Advisors, Industry Experts and SFA Leadership Will Convene to Learn, Share Best Practices and Celebrate Eleven Years of Empowering Growth for Independent Advisors — The Strategic Financial Alliance (SFA or “the firm”), an independent, privately owned provider of brokerage and custodial services and solutions to independent financial advisors nationwide, announced today…

A year ago, as The Strategic Financial Alliance celebrated its tenth anniversary, the firm was in as strong a position as it had ever been. Since that time, SFA has gone on to greater success and has undertaken several new initiatives. Today, SFA continues to enjoy an outstanding reputation for empowering the independent, doing whatever…